Acrochordus Pictures and Caresheet on the Care of Acrochordus Filesnakes.

How to Quick Cycle a Tank

This "Quick Cycling" applies to setting up for a new Acrochordus, Feeder Fish influxes, adding fish to Your Acrochordus' tank or just any time that a tank needs to be cycled. I can and do cycle a feeder fish holding tank from empty to full of fish in 36-96 hrs.(--Normally 36-48 hrs.)

This procedure is based upon 3 products: Stability, Prime and the Ammonia Alert (AA). I have done this many, many times already and do it repeatedly now. But first, let's get a misconception out of the way: "Bacteria in a Bottle". I've read and heard all of the arguments why bacteria in a bottle isn't possible, doesn't work, etc, etc, etc. Well, much of what was and still is said was based upon many true facts. However, those days are over. Seachem's Stability isn't your average bottle of bacteria, and it isn't loaded with bacteria that need to be fed while in the bottle. The bacteria in Stability is in a dormant (spore) state and do not come out of the dormancy until they are further diluted with water. The shelf-life of Stability is about 4yrs. Additionally, the main reason that all the old arguments don't hold up with Stability--is because it's not the same types of bacteria (nitrosomonas and nitrobacter). The bacteria in Stability are fully compatible with the others. It still amazes me that because of all the old arguments--the "Gurus" on all the various fish forums still claim nothing works. Too Bad: Stability works like a Charm.

Prime: Prime neutralizes Chlorine, Chloramines, Ammonia and Nitrites. The downside to Prime is it also reduces the water's Oxygen content--so aeration is definitely needed. According to Seachem, Prime can be over-dosed up to 5x. I have over-dosed it up to 10x without any problems, and up to 50x (5ml/1gal) with all of the fish dying from Oxygen deprivation. In this situation Prime is used to bind or "Lock-Up" the Ammonia and Nitrites. Additionally, Prime is only available in the tank for 48hrs. So it must be dosed every 48hrs minimum. But as You will see--it will be dosed much more often than that.

Stability: The heart of what You need to know was given above. One thing to keep in mind is that Stability is just a bottle of different bacteria, so it cannot be over-dosed. Wasted: Yes. But not over-dosed. So, You don't need to worry about adding too much. Basically, I dose 1ml/1gal/12hrs. That's it. The bacteria will find a "Home" in about 24hrs or less, so water changes need to be limited--if possible--to every 24hrs. In this situation, Stability is overdosed to build the bacterial colony at lightening speed.

Ammonia Alert: This is a neat and handy little device produced by Seachem. Yes, they work and they work very well. One thing to keep in mind is it states on the instructions: "It may take up to a few days for a dry sensor to equilibrate with the water." I've found that it takes a few hours, but just keep in mind what the instructions say. This device only reads "Free"-Ammonia---which is exactly what we need. Test kits read both Free-Ammonia and Ammonium--which gives a false positive for the Free-Ammonia. Free-Ammonia is of great concern. Once its converted to Ammonium--its not much of a problem. In this situation the Ammonia Alert is used to gauge the amount of Free-Ammonia which helps to tell you whether to add more Prime, do a Water Change (WC) or Both. It will also tell You when the first stage of the "Cycle" is past. It may be wise to initially setup your holding tank a few days in advance in order to let the Ammonia Alert equilibrate.

Ok, so You have your tank setup, added water and the filters are running--Now what?

Probably the most difficult task is stocking the Feeder Fish Holding Tank, so we will use that as the example. Additionally, since I do this on a regular basis--we will use my 22gal. holding tank:

The Setup: My Feeder Fish Holding Tank is currently a 22gal. tub with a 10gal. undergravel filter w/ penguin 1140 power head, gravel, a fluval 3 plus internal filter full of Purigen, an old corner bubble filter, a HOT Magnum 250 filter and an air stone connected to a powerful air pump. Over-filtered? Yes, but the tank gets massively over-stocked (last round: 200 minnows and 4 dozen shiners).

Water Changes: WCs are a necessary component of this system. I can cycle a tank, normally in 36-48hrs, with the 3 products above and about 4x 70% WCs. But more is generally better....

You've managed to get the feeder fish home, acclimated and into the holding tank--Now what?

Day 1:
I add a dose of Prime equal to 20ml/22gal (~10x dosage). and wait about 30mins and then add a double dose (20ml/22gal.) of Stability. The reason I wait the first 30 mins is to allow some ammonia/ammonium to build up in the tank. Once diluted into the tank water, the bacteria come out of the spore state in minutes and start looking for a home and some food. Without the ammonia/ammonium--there is no food! Without Food they will not survive and will not duplicate and start growing the colony. After 3-4hrs I check the Ammonia Alert and add a dose of Prime (5ml/22gal) and a dose of Stability (10ml/22gal). I continue this every 4-6hrs until I go to bed.

Day 2:
In the morning I check the Ammonia Alert. If needed, I do a 70-90% WC, add 20ml each of Stability and Prime and then go about my business. When I come home from work I check the Ammonia Alert. If its showing any Free-Ammonia at all--I add 5-10ml of Prime and 10ml of Stability. IF the Ammonia Alert is dark--indicating a lot of ammonia build up I will do a 70% WC and then add the Prime and Stability. If not, I will do a WC directly before going to bed and add another 10ml each of Prime and Stability. In the morning I should be able to add some Prime and Stability (20ml/22gal each) and go to work. When I return home, I do a WC, add Prime and Stability and that should be just about it. Depending upon what time of day You added the feeder fish to the holding tank--36-48hrs have now passed and the ammonia stage (stage 1) of the cycle should be just about complete. Stability contains different bacteria that consume ammonia and nitrites, so the nitrite stage (stage 2) should be well on its way also.

Day 3-4:
Over the next 36-48hrs You may want to continue to add about 10ml each of Prime and Stability every 12-24hrs to help lockup the nitrites and finish the cycle completely.

Note:
Try not to feed the fish for the first couple of days. Fish are opportunistic feeders, so they can go a number of days without food--No Problem. When You feed the fish--they will start releasing more ammonia. Instead, give the tank a couple of days to get a jump on the cycle before introducing more ammonia (via food). Then start feeding them very little at a time--Less More often, and keep up with the WCs and keep an eye on the AA.

This has been a long hard road, one in which none of the "Gurus" could help me. They all had "Old-School" thought patterns that are no longer 100% valid. Stability is a Great Product that works! It flushes all the old-school arguments right down the toilet. Without it--this system could not work.

Disclaimer

With experience I have learned to judge the state of things and make judgment calls based upon my available time, dosage quantities and frequencies--so will You. By trying to Instantly Cycle a tank that is Massively Overstocked--I do lose some fish--so will You. But I am no longer losing the dozens and dozens that I have in the past. Adjust the dosage quantities above to Your Tank Size. I cannot recommend using this system without all 3 of the products listed above. And I cannot recommend using this system with any other, even comparable, products. I use these products, I know these products and there is no reason to use any others. Currently, I am continuing to tweak this system to reduce my loses even further. Zero loses would be nice, but really isn't practical with this quantity of water and fish. Additionally, More fish, Less water or Both--proportionally--will directly effect Your Result.

Use this Information at Your Own Risk!